One of America's most famous Christmas trees en route to December home

The Norway Spruce that will wind up being one of the most photographed Christmas trees in the United States is en route to its December home.

The 72-foot evergreen that will be displayed in New York City’s Rockefeller Center this year was cut down Thursday in Wallkill, N.Y. and will be trucked to the plaza later this week. The tree is expected to complete the 120-kilometre journey on a flatbed truck to the Big Apple on Saturday.

The tree, which NBC 4 New York says is 45-feet in diameter, was discovered in the yard of Shirley Figueroa and Lissette Gutierrez. They gave the tree a final hug before it was brought down.

“I believe if you take something down, you gotta put something back, so we’re definitely going to plant… a few more trees, because she took up a lot of space,” Figueroa told NBC. “After we bought the house, the previous owner told us, ‘Hey, by the way, the tree in the yard? Rockefeller Center has been scouting it. When she told me that, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be cool,’ but I (didn’t) believe it. Until they came knocking on the door.”

The Christmas tree, which is a tradition dating back to 1931, will be displayed with 50,000 LED lights and a Swarovski crystal star. The tree will be lit on Nov. 28 and remain on display until Jan. 7.